Instead of being responsible adults or competent government officials by paying the bills they’ve racked up, House Republicans will consider passing a series of “clean” short-term debt limit increases to buy time, a move that would unsettle global financial markets and leave the American economy teetering on the brink of a GOP-induced calamity.
Roll Call reports that the nihilists in the Republican House Caucus want to increase the chaos by matching the ending date of one of the short-term increases to terminate on September 30th, that last day of the government’s fiscal year. That would essentially defund all government spending going into the new fiscal year, adding pressure to get a deal done, but also–given the disarray in the GOP and the ineffective leadership of House Speaker pro tem Kevin McCarthy (who may not be in that position after any given day because he ceded his )–increasing the likelihood that the government will pass the deadline without a deal.
Democrats have been pushing McCarthy to present any type of solution to the debt ceiling issue, but McCarthy has none. “We have to try to get together and see what we can do in a bipartisan way, that’s true,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday. “But on the debt ceiling, you know what I’d say to Speaker McCarthy when we sit down: Show us your plan.”